After three decades of mystery and uncertainty, the search for Kristin Smart may finally be drawing to a close. The California college student, who vanished at the age of 19 in 1996, was declared legally deceased in 2002, though it wasn't until 2022 that Paul Flores was found guilty of her murder. Now, authorities believe they may have uncovered human remains on a property belonging to Paul's mother, Susan Flores, in Arroyo Grande, California.
During a press conference on May 8th, San Luis Obispo County Sheriff Ian Parkinson revealed that soil tests had detected compounds indicative of human decomposition on the property. "We believe that...human remains were there at one time or still there," he said to reporters. "While I cannot go into detail, the soil tests reveal the presence of compounds associated with a decomposing human body."
Although authorities have not yet determined if the remains belong to Kristin, Sheriff Parkinson emphasized that the search continues. "I think it's safe to say that we have not recovered Kristin yet," he said. "But our search goes on, and I don't know how long we'll be there."
Prosecutors accused Paul of killing Kristin during an attempted rape on May 25, 1996, while she was a student at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. His father, Ruben Flores, was initially accused of helping Paul bury the teen's body in his backyard. However, Ruben was later acquitted of being an accessory to Kristin's murder in 2022.
Deputy San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Christopher Peuvrelle expressed hope in bringing peace to Kristin's family after all these years, even though her body was never found. "For crimes that happen in a bedroom, there are no witnesses," he said. "But ground-penetrating radar, a forensic archeologist, and a lab supervisor tell us what Kristin could not. We don't have a full intact body in this case, but we have her blood...a couple grains of bloody sand. That's all the Smart family has left of their daughter."
The ongoing investigation and discovery of human remains on the Flores property adds another layer of complexity to this tragic case, leaving the community and Kristin's family with hope that justice may finally be served after three decades of waiting.
